North Tochigi · NasushiobaraNo.915★★Open in map →
Shiobara Onsen
— Tochigi's thousand-year hot-spring valley
Eleven hot-spring hamlets strung along the Hoki River gorge in northern Tochigi, fed by more than 150 sources and six different spring types. Suspension bridges and riverside paths link them, so the valley is covered on foot.
- FromNasushiobara Station
- ~1 hrJR bus from the shinkansen station
- Get off atShiobara Onsen Bus Terminal (JR Bus Kanto)
- From there
- Shiobara Onsen
The sweet spot
Shiobara is a long-established resort, not a discovery. What keeps it from feeling crowded is its shape: eleven hamlets over several kilometres of gorge means the visitors are spread thin, even when the inns are full.
Where it is
16 more notes in Tochigi · open the map →What to look for — in walking order
- Shiobara Monogatari-kanthe public hall by the terminal, with an exhibition room on the valley's history and writers, a produce stand and a footbath
- Kurenai Suspension Bridgethe crossing directly behind the hall, named for the maples that redden along the water
- Nanatsu-iwa Suspension Bridgea longer span downstream with a footbath park at its foot and a view back over Shiogama hamlet
- Shiobara Onsen Visitor Centerthe Nikko National Park nature centre that maps the gorge footpaths and runs guided walks
- Tenno-no-Ma Memorial Parkthe room from the former Shiobara imperial villa, moved here intact and open to look through
How to actually get there
- Tokyo Station → Nasushiobara Station (Tohoku Shinkansen, about 70 minutes).
- Nasushiobara Station → Shiobara Onsen Bus Terminal (JR Bus Kanto, signed for Shiobara Onsen).
- Bus terminal → Shiobara Monogatari-kan, then straight out the back to the Kurenai suspension bridge.
- Follow the gorge downstream to the Nanatsu-iwa bridge, the visitor centre and the imperial-villa park.
- Tohoku Shinkansen, then JR bus into the gorge
- Tokyo Station → Nasushiobara Station by Tohoku Shinkansen, about 70 minutes. From the station forecourt take the JR Bus Kanto service signed for Shiobara Onsen. Journey times vary with where you get off, from roughly 40 minutes for the lower hamlets to a little over an hour for the far end of the valley.
- Return from the bus terminal
- Pick up the JR Bus Kanto service back to Nasushiobara Station from the same terminal, then the shinkansen south. Departures are concentrated in the daytime and drop off sharply in the evening, so check the posted timetable when you arrive rather than at the end of the day.
About the place
Shiobara is not one town but eleven, each with its own spring, spread along the Hoki River where it cuts back into the mountains of northern Tochigi. More than 150 sources feed them, and the water is not uniform: six different spring types are drawn in the valley, so two baths a few minutes apart can differ in mineral content and colour. The gorge itself is the connective tissue. Suspension bridges cross it at intervals and footpaths run between them, which is why the valley is walked rather than driven. The public hall beside the bus terminal is where most visitors get their bearings.
How to enjoy it
Treat the valley as a walk with baths on it rather than a single bath to reach. Shiobara Monogatari-kan opens at 8:30 and stays open until 18:00 every day, so it works as either the first stop or the last, and the footbath there is a reasonable way to end a walk. If you only have half a day, the stretch from the hall down to the Nanatsu-iwa bridge covers the gorge at its best without needing the bus again.
Background & history
Bathing here goes back more than 1,200 years. The first water is said to have been found at Motoyu, the innermost of the hamlets, in the early ninth century, and the valley grew as a cure resort rather than a pleasure quarter. Writers came later and stayed long, which is why the hamlets carry literary associations out of proportion to their size — Ozaki Koyo is said to have worked on Konjiki Yasha while lodging at Hatakuri. An imperial villa stood in the valley for decades, and the room used by the emperor has been kept and opened to the public.
Before you go
- Cash
- The valley footpaths and the suspension bridges are free to walk. Day bathing at the inns and the small museums along the way charge separately, and rates are posted at each door. Bus fares are paid on board, so keep coins and small notes to hand.
- Before you go
- This is snow country in winter, and the gorge paths ice over. The riverside walkways have no lighting after dark. The visitor centre closes on Tuesdays, with the following day taken instead when a Tuesday falls on a public holiday.
- Another way
- Nishi-Nasuno Station on the Utsunomiya Line is the other JR Bus Kanto gateway into the valley, useful if you are coming up on a local train rather than the shinkansen.
- After you get off
- From Shiobara Onsen Bus Terminal, walk down toward the river. Shiobara Monogatari-kan, the public hall with the exhibition room and the footbath, is a couple of minutes away in the Furumachi quarter.